Video-based research in a laboratory classroom

Abstract

Sophisticated research approaches and tools are needed to investigate the complex processes involved in learning in classroom settings. The use of video technology to record classroom practices, in particular, can be a powerful way for capturing and studying learning within a naturalistic educational setting (Ulewicz & Beatty, 2001). The affordability of video technologies and computer processing power has given rise to the recent establishment of university-based or schoolbased classrooms equipped with video and audio facilities around the world, such as in the USA, the Netherlands, and China. The Smith Learning Theatre at Columbia University (https://lt.tc.columbia.edu), for example, can be customised to record different combinations of small or large group interactions. The Teaching and Learning Lab at Utrecht University (https://teachinglearninglab. sites.uu.nl) has a studio for generating YouTube video recordings to demonstrate different forms of teaching and learning technologies. Some Chinese schools in the Beijing region are equipped to record lessons with up to four built-in video cameras for the purpose of supporting teacher professional development. The laboratory classroom in Australia at the University of Melbourne (as described in the next section) is able to record classroom social interactions with a rich amount of detail. The laboratory classroom was purposefully designed and built to allow simultaneous and continuous documentation of classroom interactions using multiple cameras and microphones. Unlike the facilities in the Netherlands, the USA, or China, which have mainly been used for teaching or teacher training purposes, the facility in Melbourne has been utilised by several research projects since its launch in March 2015, one of which is the Social Unit of Learning project, which aims to examine individual, dyadic, small group (four to six students) and whole-class problem-solving and learning in mathematics and the associated/consequent learning. This paper discusses the new insights and challenges that the laboratory classroom has provided in relation to its research use with illustrative examples from the Social Unit of Learning project. The project investigated the social conditions that characterise learning processes in a mathematics classroom. A brief overview of the laboratory classroom and a description of the Social Unit of Learning project are provided, followed by a reflection on the methodological issues.